Gods and Monsters II : The Fallen
by W.S.Ravensoul
Summary: This second story in the series deals with the rise of Samael and the origin of Valtiel. Set not long after the first story during a relatively new settlement attempt of Silent Hill. With appearances from Black Bear and Running Wolf. Again I am trying to include the Gods and myths mentioned throughout the game series. Graphically gory and has some steamy scenes. Enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Silent Hill. Konami does. Well here goes with the second story in the series. Thanks to those who left reviews for the first part. They gave me a wee boost. I will just say now that this is how I imagined things happened after seeing little scraps of information about the games. I don't know if I have missed anything. Hope you enjoy it anyway.

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The Fallen

Chapter 1: The troubled waters of Lakeside

The universe, space, time, and death all these things hold many wonders. I have seen many of these things for I was created to serve a being that could manipulate all these things. The universe itself is not big. It is not small either as it has no size that can be measured. Some consider it to be infinitely big never thinking that it is them who are infinitely small. My name is Valtiel and through the powers that god gave me I have witnessed both the beginning and end of my existence. I have seen the many possibilities of fighting my destiny and have ultimately found that any efforts in this cause are futile. I am happy in the knowledge that I will have lived longer than most of the entities that exist on this planet by the time of my demise. At the time that I am writing this I am serving as a historian by advising and helping a young man called Rodger Widmark to write a book detailing this small town's history. I write my tale as part of that book, what I write is not fiction however unbelievable it sounds. Much has happened in this seemingly small place. Great things have been built; gateways to other worlds, even other galaxies have been formed. Wars have been fought; great loss of life has resulted in the creation of a new land. Names have been given and lost as have people. I have been witness to many of these events. The story I tell now is my way of explaining the small part I played in a war of Godly proportions.

It began when the amount of souls in the realm became too large for my lord to deal with. Too many of them were being claimed by her nemesis and she was afraid of an army of demons overthrowing her paradise. The dweller in the lake was becoming more restless with each sacrificial ceremony. It was obvious that he was growing stronger. Even with her disciples at work in the community faith in her was waning. Day by day more people were worshiping Samael through fear. God tried many things in order to win the people back but her efforts to overpower Samael were futile. It seemed that in power terms they were at a stalemate. Yet the scales were steadily starting to tip in Samael's favour as he had the more persuasive pitch. Namely presenting the choice of servitude or an eternity of excruciatingly painful torture.

After Samael's first appearance at the lake the people of Lakeside called on God to save them from this terror and, in fairness, she came through for her part. She offered them salvation but as with all salvation there also has to be a sacrifice. For although she could save them she died with the effort it took to create paradise. She left behind two children Xuchilbara and Lobsel Vith to carry on her work. Xuchilbara stayed behind to protect her Mother's mortal children while Lobsel Vith left the physical plane to finish the work of preparing paradise for the chosen ones and guide God's children on the other side. Once God was lost the chosen could never return to their homeland as they once were. Instead they were to spend the rest of eternity in the service of her daughters. They were to be the new harvester's of souls and travellers to unseen worlds on other planes of existence. Few people were willing to take the risk of venturing into the unknown and possibly facing a worse fate than they were facing now. I was one of the few to go. It is best to really start my tale on the night of the council that decided all of our fates.

Like so many other stories of impending doom begin it was a very stormy night. The entire village had been summoned to the church hall for the first council since the appearance of Samael. The inside of the hall was comforting. A large fire had been lit and was now roaring steadily, the flames licking around the large logs making a fiery cradle. The hall's atmosphere was one of safety, warmth and comfort. When everyone was gathered the fragile illusion was brutally shattered like a thin pane of glass. Tension and worry filled the air. The mayor seeing this tried to calm the people down but did not have much luck.

Hell he couldn't blame them; he was just as scared as the next man was. The elders weren't much help either. He had talked to them beforehand and they were all doom and gloom. The only person that could offer any consolation was the assistant minister from the church of Xuchilbara, and all he could offer was the promise of more answers as the minister was talking to the Red God out in the sacred forest. So far he had been out there for a couple of days and not a word had been sent back from him but the assistant minister had assured the mayor that he would be here, that he would hear the bell and come to the town's aid.

The mayor tried to calm the crowd down once again. The ringing stopped; the bell ringer came in and sat down at the back of the hall.

"Are we all here then?"

The doorman answered, "Any that could have made it are here. Just start. I'll keep an eye out for any more."

The mayor nodded. He walked to the front of the small stage to signal that he wanted silence, but still to no avail. 'Desperate times call for desperate measures,' he thought. He picked up his chain, which seemed heavier than normal; he held it out at arms length and dropped it. It made a loud clanking as it hit the well-worn floorboards.

Silence immediately followed.

"People of Lakeside I come to you tonight not as an official but as a person. I come as the man you know as Troy Weinhelt. I am as concerned about this new threat as anyone else is. There is no possible way we can keep sacrificing decent folk to this tyrannous devil. Nor will I have the blood of strangers on my hands. No one deserves to suffer the way that we have suffered. The good Reverend Dumont has gone to speak with the Red God directly to plead our case and ask for merciful salvation, so pray hard for him at this time. I have called this meeting to ask if anyone has suggestions that could help with this current situation."

One man stood up in the sea of faces. It was Filbar Johnston, one of the main representatives of the Johnston family. His father, Olben was there too but was too sickly to speak for the family. They were all given weird and wonderful names because there were so many of them. They had a farm out near the sacred forest. They all seemed to live a bit longer than most people. So much so that there were currently five generations living at one time on the farm. Filbar was of the second generation and was currently around ninety years old. His father was well into his hundreds yet Filbar only looked around his mid forties. They lived on what used to be the natives camp years ago. They still kept in good favour with the remnant of the natives; a chief and his shaman son. The two natives lived with the Johnstons and were good friends to them. The rest of the village accepted the two because of the Johnston's respect for them. The Johnstons themselves were respected because of their large number and the fact that they produced most of the town's food.

It was Filbar who spoke now, his jaw set and his appearance agitated as if what he were about to say was difficult.

"I know that I have no right to decide the fate of this town but if this sacrifice keeps up there will be no town left to live in. I don't think we are even on the same level as cattle here. I don't think it matters to this thing if we all die. I think our deaths will make this demon stronger if anything. You all saw the lake turn to blood and lately the crops here have been failing. Therefore I suggest that we take this thing on now as one movement to try and overpower it. I don't know if we can kill it but God willing there must be at least some way to contain it. Though it saddens me to say this we could even try to persuade it to move on to another place."

A voice from somewhere else in the crowd spoke up.

"No. I think I speak for everyone else when I say that no one else should be made to suffer. I think this thing has fed too long on people's fears. I will stand with you if you want to wage war on the demon but I will not pass the nightmares onto anyone else." A loud communal "here here," was heard in agreement. It touched the mayor to see his people come together like this to fight a common foe. For all he knew the fate of the world could depend on this battle.

A loud bang made everyone turn their heads sharply to the back of the room. Some of the more excitable villagers jumped right out of their chairs. All that could be seen was an arm with an old, gnarled hand keeping the door open. A ring on the index finger signified it to be someone of importance as few people could afford such luxuries. It glinted from the sheets of lightning that flashed frequently outside. The candles near the entrance had blown out making it impossible to see the intruder's face. The figure was hooded and covered in black clothing that dripped droplets of pure night onto the floorboards. The figure struggled to close the door against the howling wind while the doorman hurriedly went to fetch a light to relight the candles.

When they finally lowered their hood a large sigh of relief was let out as if everyone had been holding their breath until that moment. It was the Reverend Dumont. He chuckled softly

"My goodness but you would think I had just stumbled into a warren of rabbits the way you all jumped. I apologise for scaring anyone but it is hard to slip in on a night such as this one. I see that the meeting has already started, have I missed much?" One of the Johnstons fetched the old man's coat and then moved a chair near to the fire so that the minister could sit down.

"Bless you my child," Dumont said as he ruffled the boy's hair. "It is good to see that the parents are still raising the children properly anyway."

Filbar beamed with pride. "It is good to see that someone still notices the hard work we put in." A chuckle rippled around the hall before Troy spoke up.

"No father you haven't missed much. So far in terms of ideas all we have is death or glory. The general consensus has been to fight the beast in one concentrated attack."

The Reverend shook his head. He sighed as he warmed his hands up. He spoke loud enough for people to hear while he focused on the flame's hypnotic dance.

"I have another option. It would mean starving the beast but it would still require one last sacrifice. Are you willing to hear it?" The atmosphere became a bit uneasier in the hall. The wind howled even louder as if it were trying to shape the building at its very foundations. The candles flickered and some in the crowd panicked and struggled to get out before being held down.

The mayor sighed. He had a feeling that he was not going to like this.

"Keep hold of those little ones. If the storm gets in here we will have even more problems to deal with. Continue with your idea Reverend, we will listen if nothing else."

The Reverend Dumont nodded appreciatively, "As many of you are probably aware by now I have been to the sacred forest to call upon divine instruction. The wonders I saw there were nothing short of miraculous.

Creatures…no angels whirled about me singing tunes that were so beautiful that it made the hairs stand on the back of my neck. It was as if I had been struck by a bolt of lightning and I soon found myself dancing with them. Can you imagine? A man my age dancing like a foolhardy young'un. The creatures…oh my word; more beautiful beings I have never seen. Their faces shone white with purity. Their bodies were perfect for lack of a more deserving word. They glistened with a golden radiance. Each one had a red mark on the back of each hand. It was the sigil of our lady. At the height of the glorious dance they spread their large majestic wings. Each of their wings was marked differently with a prominent patch of colour. It was as if they had been blessed at birth with the best wings in creation.

Suddenly the frantic beat stopped and the large stone that we danced around split open to reveal a doorway. One of the creatures told me to shield my face in the presence of my lady. All I can remember about her was that when she walked the earth a multitude of flowers appeared around her and bloomed from nowhere, as white as the driven snow. She laughed like a child whenever she saw me, her silvery voice like honey to my lips. In that moment I wanted to hear nothing but the sound of her voice and I knew that I would do anything for her.

"My good servant," she said, "it is a pleasure to see you. So you are one of the few that has been keeping my faith alive. I know what it is you seek and I do indeed have answers. Know first that the creature you now know as Samael came from the same universal womb that bore my Mother. We have come to Earth because the life here appeals to our pallets. I enjoy the happiness that is found in your short, vibrant lives. You amuse and dare I even say it interest me. Unfortunately my brother has also taken a liking to your kind. The fact that we have landed so close to one another is strange and unfortunately leaves you with a troublesome situation. Fortunately I have created a way out for you although it requires sacrifice.

It is this. I will open the gateway and take all that are willing to go with me. Whoever comes with me shall walk the path of Lobsel Vith, wander the heavens and see things that no human has ever seen. In return for this gift they must sacrifice their homes and previous lives. They can never go back to that life. Now that Samael has taken a liking to you, that was always going to be the case. You must put your lives in my hands and serve me completely." The Reverend finished his tale, "That friends is the plan straight from the mouth of our wondrous and merciful God. What say you to this?"

Cyril Peterson, Lakeside's carpenter stood up and cleared his throat.

"May I have permission to speak?" He glared at the mayor as if to say, "Just try to stop me." His large, white, bushy eyebrows helping to create a menacing shadow on his face in the firelight. Troy sighed in resignation and lifted his hand towards Cyril's direction to show that he could speak. Cyril nodded out of courtesy,

"Folks not to put a dampener on the good Reverend's suggestion but I have had enough of serving any God. This is our home that we are fighting for not some daft new religion. Sorry to be so realistic but I have seen religions come and go and that entire time only one thing has remained reliable: the earth under my feet. So forgive me if I come across as a harsh man but I have a strong urge to fight for what's real and not to be chasing about like a headless chicken for some 'God' that I have had no contact with, except to witness her absence as my boy was taken screaming from his room in the night. I'm not saying that we will win this fight but at least we will have died fighting for something worthwhile." Cyril sat back down only for someone else to croak up.

It was Olben Johnston. Troy didn't need to ask for silence this time. As the oldest of the immigrants, everyone stayed silent out of respect and hung on every word he said.

"Something worthwhile? Brother you forget yourself. The Red God is worthwhile. Do you forget what age you are? You should be dead at least twice over by now. You know we were all called to this place by a force other than the need to simply find a new home. Xuchilbara guided us to our homes because she wanted us here for a reason, to wait until our destinies become apparent. Now they have and you want to deny that for these people. I think it would be wise to reconsider." Cyril said nothing but muttered darkly to himself.

Suddenly something hit the fire sending embers flying onto the people sitting nearby. Quickly dusting himself off the Reverend dashed over to look up the chimney to see what had caused the disturbance. Sweat trickled down the back of his neck, as the heat of the embers was still strong. He looked up to the end of the chimney. His gaze met two fiery pinpoints of light at the top of the chimney as the red glowing embers reflected off something's eyes.

A flash of lightning revealed the listener in the dark. The Reverend put his hand to his mouth to stifle a gasp of sheer terror. The creature that stared back at him was the stuff of nightmares. It had a completely spherical head with two piercing brown eyes that had unnaturally large pupils. There was no nose to speak of; however there were tiny nostrils that flared due to the small wisp of smoke that escaped from the embers. The most terrifying feature about its face was a wicked perpetual grin full of cruel, jagged teeth. The beast made a move to go, revealing more of its body. It had large scars that ran across its torso as if it had previously been tortured excessively. Unlike its head the things body was square in shape. It had no arms or hands but rather in their place there were large metal spears so that it walked on all fours.

Dumont watched in amazement as it took to the air. The amazing thing was that it did not seem to need wings to fly. It awkwardly jumped into the air and started to somersault, except gravity seemed to have no effect on it and so it did not come down but kept on rotating in mid-air. It flew off towards the lake. Dumont slowly took his hand down again and turned around to face the expectant crowd. Troy was anxious

"What was it Reverend?"

Dumont sat down, his face a little paler than before. "It is best that I do not tell you lest the nightmares become worse. What I can tell you is that we were not alone in our discussions. My friends I did not expect this to happen. Time has just become dramatically shorter. You need to make a choice now. Either come with me to serve God in paradise or stay here and postpone your miserable and inevitable death for another few days."

Without waiting to hear any more words or speeches the Reverend Dumont got up and turned to quickly leave the hall, he was closely followed by about ten people including the Johnstons and myself. Troy looked thoroughly depressed when I last saw him. He knew that he had a duty to lead his people even if they did choose a path of certain death. I looked back at the sea of resolute faces and waved a sad and respectful goodbye to Troy, as I knew that I would never see him again. From the look on his face he was thinking along the same lines. They were doomed and he knew it. They were about to suffer the consequences of plotting to attack a war deity. We reached the town limits and were about to enter the sacred forest when a bone chilling communal scream reached our ears. We stopped and slowly turned around to watch in horror as a thousand creeping, crawling, cutting, crunching creatures moved in on the hall from the direction of the lake.

A dim orange light appeared in the night skyline. Someone had thrown a gas lamp at the horde of creatures relentlessly bursting in though the door screeching and shouting. They clawed to get in desperate to kill and full of the instinct to tear, rip and bite into all living flesh. The lamp only served to set a large portion of the hall ablaze. The fire was only bright enough for us to make out silhouettes in the dark cityscape. Perhaps it was better that way as the things we could make out made most of us throw up. It looked like the creatures were using the torn up bodies as meat puppets. The monsters were making fun of the massacre using the corpses of the freshly slain.

The red light that shone from the unearthly creatures eyes glimmered in the darkness. It reminded me of a particularly beautiful sunset on Toluca Lake. A harsh whisper came from the forest brush near us,

"Keep yourselves hidden. Fools, standing around like dumb animals begging to be slaughtered." It was the old Indian Chief Black Bear. Filbar walked over to him and greeted him like family,

"Good to see you here. I was starting to fear that they had taken you as well. I noticed that the lights were out at the farm. You acted surprisingly quickly. Did you know that this attack was coming?"

The old Chief solemnly nodded his head, "Yes I knew. The spirits have been restless during the past few days. They told me that something big was going to happen."

Filbar looked puzzled. "If you knew then why didn't you leave town or at least tell us something?" One of the Johnston children started crying.

The chief looked over sternly, "Keep that child quiet. Do you want it to have an early grave?" Isabel Johnston made great efforts to keep Joshua quiet.

The Chief answered Filbar's earlier question. "The spirits were not specific as to what was going to happen they only knew that something was definitely going to happen. As for leaving I am bound by oath to stay in this land until I am called back. All I can do now is bring you to the gateway and let you pass through. Reverend you will be familiar with the place we travel to now but not it's true purpose."

Dumont looked confused and suddenly brightened when he realised where the chief was referring to, "The place of calling?"

Black Bear nodded, "Yes. This journey should be particularly interesting to you. Now come on before the things pick up our scent."

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Well thats all for now. I can get more up soon. Let me know what you think of it.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	2. Chapter 2

Here we go with chapter 2. I have the whole story typed so I will just put it up as I edit as it needs a touch up. Thanks to those reading and reviewing the series. Forgot to mention that originally this story was inserted into a story by KarryAnne but unfortunately the ending never got put up so I decided to put the story up in its entirety as part of the Gods and Monsters series. It fits in well that way. Hope you enjoy it.

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The Fallen

Chapter 2: The place of calling

Screams still pierced the night as we silently made our way through the starlit forest. The rain enhanced the smell of the trees. I thanked God that I could not smell the living flesh of my townspeople being cooked. It seemed that it wasn't enough that they merely died. They were to be made examples of. It was about twenty minutes journey to reach the clearing, but it seemed like an eternity as the old Indian constantly checked for creatures.

When we got there I found the place a little disappointing. I was expecting something grander of a place that was used to speak directly with God. It consisted of a clearing surrounded by a large wooden fence covered with white candles. In the middle of the clearing was a very large upright stone with tribal drawings scrawled all over it in the blackest paint I had ever seen. The way the stone was positioned it demanded attention as soon as you entered the clearing. The Chief hurried to the stone and started tracing some of the runes with his fingers.

Suddenly a loud chilling howl was heard from the dark and primordial forest. I looked around to see what made the noise but saw nothing. I instructed the others to get closer to the stone. The other men were reluctant to do so but even more reluctant to retreat were the women. The only thing that would have held them back was the children. They soon found a way around that problem when the Reverend Dumont and Olben Johnston volunteered to take care of them as their bodies were past using in terms of combat. Soon five people stood to face the creature in the dark.

We all brandished some form of weapon ranging from walking stick to frying pan to pitchfork. It was soon apparent that this was not going to be enough as the number of howls grew dramatically. A solitary candle lit up without anyone to give it light. The pure light shone out among the trees revealing a wall of red eyes staring back at us. Suddenly more candles lit up as the red pinpoints advanced at an agonisingly slow pace, as if they intended to make our group in particular suffer the longest. I looked at the others around me. It warmed my heart to see that they had the same look of grim determination set on their faces. I spoke up,

"In case we don't survive this; it has been an honour and a privilege to know you all."

Filbar smiled, "Buck up lad. This night is far from over. Look over there." He pointed off to the right where a pair of golden eyes could be seen weaving in and out through the sea of creatures. It travelled at an incredible speed to make its way over to us.

"What is it?" I asked.

Filbar in a much better mood replied, "Our salvation. Whatever you do, do not harm a black wolf if you see it. All will be explained in a moment just keep watching."

And watch I did, as a large black wolf leapt over the fence to land easily in the clearing. Once inside the clearing something happened. It was as if the beast shimmered with a strange kind of grey light. I tried to watch in fascination, but my eyes were forced to look away. I could hear bones cracking and clicking into place. I forced myself to try and look again. I could make out bare shapes as the wolf changed form. Bones reshuffled under a loose bag of fur-covered skin. It was a totally unnatural sight by anyone's standards. The red dots became larger as the grotesque army slowly drew closer. What was once a wolf's paw now made a human footprint on the grass.

The Chief smiled a large grin,

"Excellent timing as always son. I'm having trouble opening the gate. The best I could do was to set up the watch candles and by the look of them it seems that there is more to worry about then a stuck gateway."

The cracking of branches filled the forest, as the shuffle of slow, painful movement grew louder. My hands began to shake as dread gripped me. Isabel put her free hand on my shoulder and gave me a reassuring look,

"We're going to make it through this. Hold your courage close to your heart. We can defeat whatever this demon has sent against us. Remember that God is on our side."

With my courage restored I stood in good company, ready to face an army of monsters; and win. The Shaman focused his eyes on the darkness.

"Drones! I haven't seen them here in a very long time. They are disfigured almost beyond recognition but I can still recognise a reanimated corpse when I see one. Do not make the mistake of presuming that their human like form houses any soul. These are demonic spirits using dead flesh vessels nothing more. Destroy the vessel and you banish the demon back to its realm. Do not feel remorse when you destroy a vessel even though it might be someone you know. Be ready for anything but hold back while I deal with them."

Filbar looked confused, "How do you intend to deal with so many?" Black Bear silenced the farmer and instructed him to watch. Running Wolf grabbed a handful of grass, smiled then blew it towards the forest. Next he found some blackberries growing in a bramble bush near the stone. He scattered them around the fence, the juice colouring his fingertips in hues of deep purples and reds. He grabbed the thin vine, found one of the larger thorns and pricked a vein in his wrist. Running Wolf began spreading the fine spray of blood over the area where the seeds were scattered. Finally he stood beside the stone, with one palm solidly leaning against it, and spoke in a strange tongue.

"Em evres ot dnuorg eht dnammoc I. DoG eurt eno eht evres I sa. Eris."

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as I watched the seeds spring to life and start growing brambles at an alarming rate. Except when Filbar got a closer look at the thorny vines in the candlelight they appeared red. Running Wolf noticed the look of amazement on our faces.

"If you think that's impressive just wait until you see this." With that he raised his finger and traced symbols in the air. They probably related to the ones on the stone, I couldn't really tell. The result was what was important and it was a marvel to behold. The thorny brambles crept upwards and outwards. Some wrapped themselves around the nearby surrounding trees and others travelled deeper into the forest. It was not long before a guttural cry broke the near silence of the scene except for the rustling of the vines, as they crept along the forest floor.

I turned around to the Shaman, "What did you do?"

He answered with a twinkle in his eyes. "I ensured our survival. The vines will dispatch most of this unholy host. Keep watching." I quickly looked back as some of the red eyes stopped and turned to face the others. Glints of metal shone along with the red eyes. The vines were constricting and controlling some of the creatures, making them kill their brethren in swift, violent actions.

The surviving creatures picked up the pace; an inhuman voice like a bird screeching inwards sounded its chilling opinion. "Come brothers they must not survive. For Samael." A charge began, consisting of about twenty of the demons.

Running Wolf became impatient, he shouted again in the ancient tongue. "Ti hsinif, meht llik, su tcetorp. Eris." As soon as the last syllable was uttered the brambles that had wound themselves around the trees became taught and dragged the trees closer to the fence until a crunch was heard. They had made a wall of trees against the army of demons.

Multiple thuds and crashes were heard as the charge hit the wall of living wood. A few of the smarter ones scaled the trees. They laughed when they reached the top and saw their prey. With a terrible cry they descended on the small party of survivors. Sweat soaked our clothes as we finally glimpsed the creatures that were trying to destroy us. They looked mostly human except that their faces split in the middle to show a mouth full of dagger like teeth. Some had wings with red bony arms holding them in place. All of them had at least one arm replaced by a large blade like appendage.

I closed my eyes and held my pitchfork high, waiting for certain death to take me. It never came. I looked up to see that their descent had been cut short by multiple vines mimicking the form of a noose. The vines had broken the drones' necks with the combined speed of the beasts' descent and the impact of their sudden mid air stoppage. As I watched the grotesque mixtures of flesh and metal turn in the firelight I stared in a hope that I could recognise them and that they were not one of the townsfolk. I had to look closer at them; I don't know how to put it. I guess I felt compelled to know that they were finally resting in peace. I got to about two paces distance from the nearest corpse. They were human as I looked at the back of the head I could see where monstrous claws had compressed the poor victims skull into a ball shape. These poor souls must have been tortured beyond measure. I used my pitchfork to turn the body around a bit, as the torso had become entangled in the trees. I dropped the fork and fell to the ground while retching in horror.

I looked up again to make sure which resulted in the rest of my stomach contents being released. There before me twirling in the candlelight was the twisted, butchered corpse of what used to be my Father. He had been missing more then a week and I had feared the worst. However to have those fears confirmed was a different matter entirely. At least when he was missing there was still a glimmer of hope in my heart that I would find him. When I had no more tears left in me and the retching had stopped I made the sign of the pyramid with my fingers across my body before scampering back to the others at the stone.

Running Wolf looked pleased with himself as he smiled grimly. "Interesting. That was better than I could have hoped for. I was only going to hang them in the hope of deterring them a bit while you escaped…Right. Now we'd better get that gate open hadn't we." I came to stand near Filbar and Isabel Johnston who must have noticed my haggard, shaken appearance.

"Are you all right? What happened over there?"

I shook my head, the taste of bile still fresh in my mouth. "Nothing. I just hadn't expected their faces to be so disturbing that's all. I mean even looking at one of them while it was dead still wanted me to violently throw up. How could such grotesque creatures exist? I saw large clumsy stitches made from God knows what running all over their bodies. Meaning that they were made. As similarly as you or I going about our daily business."

The blood drained from their faces when they learned that someone could become one of these things. I omitted the part about my Father. Things were bad enough without Isabel examining one of the creatures only to find that her Meric had also been used to make one of them. Anyway it was probably easier to look at them without seeing any humanity left. It may have even have helped Running Wolf to kill them with that belief in his heart, but I saw the pain and suffering in that face and it was certainly not the face of a demon to me. My Father suffered much to be in that state. I tried to put his face out of my head. In all probability death was a release from the constant pain of housing a demon in a body made up of unearthly body parts. With that knowledge I turned my back to my Father's gently swaying corpse and concentrated on watching Running Wolf.

We stood and watched in silence as Running Wolf approached the stone where his father was there to clap him on the back.

"I'm glad someone is enjoying themselves today."

The Shaman gave his father a sideways glance, "Speak for yourself. I was happier hunting rabbits." Black Bear laughed and was the only one to do so. He stood back to give Running Wolf space to work with the stone. I tried to see the symbols that he worked with in order to take my mind of my Father. I was still fascinated by the power of this place and how one man could channel so much of it.

I managed to get a glimpse of the last symbol that he touched. It was the symbol of our church. I recognised it instantly as it was all over town. It was rumoured to double as a protective rune against evil but I later found out that it was designed to summon God so that she could walk freely amongst us. Although up to that point in my lifetime I had never seen it used. It was now at this time that I got to see what it did.

The black markings of the stone seemed to move and flow. Each one formed a small black hole before linking with another and then another until eventually a large round doorway was formed. Two large circles framed the hole with ancient runes inscribed in between them. The runes vaguely resembled what had originally been on the stone but had obviously changed down the years. The Chief put his arm out to stop anyone going through.

"Before you go through, be sure of your faith or you will suffer the consequences. My son and I will stay here as we both have unfinished business here. You must hold Samael in place. If he is allowed to spread past the place of the silenced spirits it will not take him long to realise that this world is here for the taking."

When all in the group had assured him that they were either strong in faith or too young to be judged then he let them through. We were all nervous and a little frightened, as we couldn't see anything but darkness in the tunnel. In the end it was the Reverend Dumont who persuaded us to go,

"My children I know you are scared but time is short so I will make this quick. We have seen too much not to go. We owe this duty to God as she has brought us this far and saved us few out of so many." He wasted no time in taking a quick look around before stepping into the tunnel. We watched as he crouched to make his way through the tunnel. He disappeared out of view and suddenly a white light appeared as if from nowhere and the small dot that was the Reverend Dumont completely disappeared from sight. I looked around the group and gestured that they could go before me

"After you." The Johnstons stayed fairly close together. I remained the last to pass through into God's realm, partially because I wanted to make sure that if any demons planned a surprise attack then I would be there to give the others a fighting chance to get through. A beautiful white light surrounded them and caused them to vanish from sight. I didn't see too much of what happened to the others as I became more paranoid of an ambush. Finally it was my turn to enter into the Hall of Judgement.

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Thats all for now. Now the real trippy fun begins. Please let me know what you thought and if any improvements need made.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	3. Chapter 3

Right that's Chapter 3 fixed and up. Hope you enjoy it.

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The Fallen

Chapter 3: Judgement of the faithful

I peered into the cavern trying desperately to see what lay inside. Again my actions were in vain; try as I might I could see nothing. I did not even see what caused the white light. One moment I was covered in darkness and in the next blink of my eyes it was revealed to me that I was covered in a bright white light. It wrapped itself around me like fresh sheets on a bed. I felt the sensation of moving at speed.

It reminded me of the time that I lost control of old man Dryden's cart and horse. I thought that I was surely going to die when the animal entered the forest. Luckily it stopped to feed on some grass in a clearing. This was the exhilaration I was feeling now. I was hoping for it to last a while before I would enter the halls of judgement.

However it was over all too soon and I was left in a room completely made up of mirrors. I was surrounded by infinite versions of myself. Each one, I discovered, was uniquely different from the other. A loud voice, like that of a villain that the storyteller would play, boomed in my ears. "Find the path to your true self and enter paradise."

I was completely confused, "W…what?" I stammered weakly. There was no reply. This was not how I expected the hall of judgement to be. My unanswered question echoed down the seemingly endless hall. 'That's not right. Surely this place is too small to create echoes.'

Ah; how foolish and ignorant I was back then, full of my own stubborn ideals. For example the ideal of the established view of what was real and what was not. In any case I stood there for what must have been half an hour, just studying the different reflections. They in turn stared back with just as much thoughtfulness in their expressions. 'My true self. Must be the qualities in these reflections. Maybe these mirrors are not mirrors at all. If a stone can be a gateway to nowhere then why can't a mirror? If only I could find a way to work these.' I decided to closely study the first row. It was like looking at a rainbow of myself. There was a spectrum showing the range of my better qualities to my darker side.

I had to ask myself the question, 'What do I want to do in the next life?' My thoughts turned to the town that I had just left behind, and how I had felt so powerless to stop the massacre at Lakeside. I didn't want to have that happen again. I walked up to the reflection that seemed to guard a small bottled ship. It was the Nightingale, the ship that had brought us over from our troubled homeland. It symbolised the town as all the town's inhabitants were on board the ship. Upon closer inspection I noticed small cracks near the top of the mirror. They looked as if they were put there on purpose.

I breathed on them and watched as the cracks revealed their true form. Small hairline cracks appeared now that had previously gone unnoticed and joined with the larger cracks to spell out the word "Protector." I was sure the others would be similar but I had chosen my path and was not going to waste time while Samael became stronger. I carefully pushed at the pane of glass. The cracks from the word spread across the entire pane and joined at the part of the glass that my hand had touched. Eventually there were so many cracks that a small hole appeared and the glass started to fold in on itself. It kept cracking and folding until it revealed an entrance to a dark cavern.

I put my head in and tried to see what lay in store for me this time. Again I saw nothing, something warm and fuzzy brushed against my hand, which I withdrew with a short, sharp gasp. I hung my head and forced myself to enter. As soon as my foot had crossed the threshold the pane started to fold back and seamlessly join, closing the doorway. I watched slightly shaking as the last fragments of light disappeared from the room. A deep growl emanated from somewhere near me.

"You come to make yourself ready to serve?"

Fearfully I looked around and answered, "Y…Y…Yes. Who is there?" Something large moved quickly and at once I found myself pinned to the ground with what must have been a large paw. The claws dug into my chest, making sure that I was held in place. I could hear sniffing before two glowing blue eyes, the colour of the sky on a hot summer's day, pierced me with their gaze.

"Hmm. You don't smell dead, don't look dead and …" A wet, warm surface, not unlike the roughness of tree bark, ran itself over my cheek. "Yesss. You don't taste like the damned either. So tell me what is a creature such as yourself doing here?" My lungs felt as if they were going to pop like a bubble under the crushing weight of the beasts paw. I tried to answer but found that I could only manage to whisper raggedly due to a severe lack of breath.

The creature realised what was happening and relaxed its grip. I took in great gulps of air before I could answer. I told the creature of my escape from the town and how I wanted to serve the Red God by protecting the world from the likes of Samael. At this the creature laughed, "How could one such as you stand up to that Devil? Do you know what he is capable of? He has been known to flatten armies in a single thought. He could probably destroy a planet without raising a sweat but that is not his way. He is sadistic in the extreme. He feeds on fear and pain. He especially enjoys seeing a being's spirit broken. How do you intend to compete with that?"

I spent long minutes thinking of how to answer such a question. Finally it all fit into place. "I don't intend to compete with him. I intend to trap him."

The voice sounded intrigued, "Go on."

Encouraged by the heavenly being's interest I continued. "I not only mean to trap the fiend but to use his latest victory against him. Basically I need God to transform the deserted town of Lakeside into a place that calls souls so that Samael can feed on them. The souls must be sinners of course. While he is distracted with them a band of angels will burrow a tunnel into his layer in the lake. From there we can overpower him, cut him up and contain him so that he may never again walk the earth."

A soft deep chuckle sounded from the creature, "Ambitious, mortal I will give you that. Hmm…yes, right, that's it."

"That's what?" I asked bemused.

Those deep blue eyes looked straight into my own, "I have decided to help you. As a servant of God I share some of her power so I might be of some use to you. I will take residence in your corporeal form, that way I can walk freely in your world without fear. Now open your mouth and stay very still." My eyes looked wildly about the room; still trying to make out the identity of the presence and more importantly to judge how big it was if it was going to inhabit my body.

"One question before you do this. Will I still be me?"

The creature sighed impatiently. "Do not fear mortal, I will not harm you, now lay back as relaxed as you can be." With the weight of the paw now relaxed but still there I told it that I needed its paw off my chest. I reassured the creature that I would not run. The laugh that came from it echoed around the room. I didn't like the menacing taint to it. "I know that you won't run mortal now open your mouth and lay still." I lay back, closed my eyes and did as I was asked.

I could sense movement just above me, slow and ponderous as if the creature was wondering how best to go about whatever it was going to do. The movement became more sure and decisive. Soon a sharp, wet cracking and clicking was heard as if bones were sliding into and out of place. I waited for what seemed to be an eternity before the cracking stopped. I listened carefully for the next move of my furry and rather large cellmate. A sound came from the left side of the room, not unlike a slithering, although if it was a slithering the sound must have been muffled by the creatures fur.

It got closer I could feel it's warm breath run over my cheek. Finally it crawled up onto my belly and slid closer towards my open mouth. I flinched as something cold and wet touched the skin just under my Adam's apple. A low growl was the response to the action. My hair was now standing on its end as nervous energy coursed through my body like a river over a pebble. "Lay still," the mysterious creature commanded. I closed my eyes and tried to lie as still as possible, all the time thinking of revenge and being a better servant for God.

It rested in the same spot until I had relaxed. Without any warning the creature slithered quickly into my mouth and down my throat. All at once I felt so many sensations, my tongue felt textures of fur, feathers, bone and hard skin. A pain racked my body for a short time, but it was so intense that I thought my whole body would snap itself in half. The creature was rearranging my innards so that it could accommodate itself. My eyes bulged and I broke out in a cold sweat as the creature tossed and turned inside me. I gagged over and over, I could not breathe. I knew I was about to die. Suddenly as soon as it had started it finished, leaving me to gasp for air before I passed out on the hard ground, cold with sweat and physically exhausted.

I awoke to find that the room was no longer in darkness. No it was a different sensation. I could now see in the darkness. I could see everything. The room was not the primitive cave as I had originally thought but a small and ornate temple. Decorative carvings lined the wall, painting an intricate picture showing the scene of the two God's coming to earth. In front of the Gods in all their glory were the peoples of the earth.

Half of the immense crowd bowed in awe of Xuchilbara in all her glory and half bowed in fear of Samael and his army of dread monsters. I studied the scene in awe and horror of what the carvings foretold. There were two possible endings to the world. In both instances the planet was destroyed. Again the two deities played an intricate part in its destruction. The war between them ravaged the land and ended in an uneasy stalemate. From what I could see the war had something to do with the death of Xuchilbara's mother and the chosen exile of her sister Lobsel Vith, leaving her as the only God left to defend Earth from her powerful and sadistic brother. The only other records I could see told of the actual conflict and its aftermath.

Xuchilbara's decision was to destroy the world after bringing her last few remaining followers to the paradise Lobsel Vith was finishing. Samael simply destroyed the world because he was becoming tired of the look of the planet. However in both instances I saw the same figure serving the deities. A sort of right hand man if you will. It seemed that this being was destined to serve no matter what the outcome was. The creature was like none that I had ever seen before. It was a large winged mountain lion. The only difference in the pictures of servitude was that its wings were nearly skeletal in Samael's service. Its name seemed to be Xuchilpaba. I had to check twice because I thought it was a misspelling of Xuchilbara at first.

I finished looking at the carving and looked around for the door that I had just come through. I had to see how the creature had changed me. 'In more ways than you know,' a deep voice growled. I searched for the creature for it was surely his voice. I couldn't sense him, then I realised that he was speaking from the depths of my own mind. 'Look for the trees.' I obeyed and saw them. Two mighty trees carved in the rock.

One was covered in leaves and bore much fruit; the other was dying and seemed to be overrun with minute and horrid demons. 'Don't just stand there admiring the craftsmanship go on through we have much yet to accomplish.' There was a hole in each tree. Each tree was within arms reach, and as I explored I found that each hollow concealed a handle. I pulled on both at the same time and stood back as small beams of light penetrated the once dark cavern. It seemed to rain with light but in reality it was merely the glass folding back in on itself. Nonetheless it was an impressive picture.

I stepped back into the hall of mirrors. Again I was faced with many versions of myself. I turned to look at the mirror that I had just stepped through, expecting anything. What I saw still shocks me each time I think on it. I was staring at a great golden, winged mountain lion. Its beautiful fur glowed softly with golden light. Its eyes had changed colour and were not the blue that I had seen before. Instead I saw eyes that were a deep green, like a summer meadow on a moonlit night. Its teeth were as white as the crest of a deep-sea wave. The creature that I gazed upon was ancient and beautiful. It made me wonder what the hell I had allowed to enter my body.

'I am older than this land and more powerful than one hundred of your kind put together. What I am is unimportant. Pick the wheel that you see in the middle of the floor and place it onto the mirror with the doorman to your right. We have work to do.' I obeyed and slotted the valve into a hole just above the doorman's hand on the mirror. There was another valve on the doorman's left. The reflection moved with me as we both took hold of the valve handles. 'Turn the valve handles the way I tell you to.' I followed the creature's instructions precisely and as a result a thick fog filled the room. Somewhere a hole opened as I could see the forest and the glow of the candle lit fence once again.

I stepped forth onto the frost-coated grass with renewed purpose. It was time to use the powers that God had given me…I mean the thing inside me. The power itself was like a living, breathing creature that begged to be used. It wanted me to use it, work with it, but not control it. The power wanted to bend me to its will. I fought against it and, with my newfound strength eventually brought it under control. It took the efforts of both the creature and myself to control and direct the power together. He was now the guiding force and I was the strength.

'Concentrate. First we need to guard this place against intruders as much of my power originates from this place. This magic is much like painting a picture. You have to combine different elements that compliment each other to make this work. First we need to use fire and earth to detect intruders. This is much like the spell that you saw Black Bear cast.'

I was confused and anyone looking at the scene would have thought me mad as I talked to thin air. "How the hell do you know what I saw? And how do you know the Chief?"

There was a sigh inside my head, 'I am inside you now. In essence I am part of you. I know everything about you…probably better then you know yourself.'

I rolled my eyes to the heavens and thought into myself, 'Now why did I not see that coming?'

The voice answered, 'You were and still are only a foolish mortal but by the time I am finished with you it will be as if you were a child of God yourself.'

I cursed myself for forgetting that the creature could read my thoughts as well. 'Now take control of the power and force it to take the elements from the primordial building blocks held in the air. I took the power in my hands like it was the reigns of a horse and felt my muscles tense up as the energy coursed through my body. I concentrated hard and began to see different types of specks in the air around me.

I commanded the power to gather earth and fire and place it at the fence. Great spasms ran up and down my arms as a powerful force progressed to send my whole body into convulsions. Small transparent tendrils seemed to come out of my arm as my body was now being raised on a pillar of air. I could feel my hair and clothes being tousled as I was lifted up to rest on the stone of calling, yet all the while I knew that this was impossible. I watched the long, thin appendages set about their task. The power I felt kept me standing upright on the stone's top.

I hated it for letting me know that I was merely an instrument for it to use to carry out its business. Yet the power was strangely addictive. I needed it to make me whole. It felt like I had finally found the thing that was missing in my life and now that I had it, I never wanted to let go of it. The absence of the power would surely destroy me completely. The tendrils created a column of each of the elemental scraps.

The voice spoke again, 'Good. Now join them by bringing your hands together. Bigger tasks require physical action.' Again I did as I was told and started to slowly close my shaking hands.

The two columns strained against the incredible power that I wielded. A sparrow flitted in and out and through the pillars. I know that it couldn't see them but it felt them, felt the intoxicating surge of power that pulsed through them. Even the plants under the pillars were feeling the benefit as they grew at an exponential rate. There was a crackling to be heard as the two elemental pillars touched each other. A blue light glowed where they joined. I noticed that sparks of blue light also flashed between my nearly joined hands.

I felt compelled to stop, afraid of what the blue flame might do to me but the power and the creature were in control now. Sensing my fear they both closed my hands quickly. A blinding blue column of light now swirled in the air in front of me. I stood there watching in awe, it was so hypnotic. The voice broke the silent moment in which I was dazed. 'Walk into the light and with each hand hold onto the fence. Quickly the blue flame can only be sustained for a short time and time is short enough for us.'

I ran through the unnaturally thick foliage and stepped into the light. I placed my hands on the fence and a fraction of a second later a bolt of lightning fell down from the sky and struck my body. It quickly left me and travelled into the wooden fence. 'How is this possible?' I wondered. I remembered seeing lightning hitting a large tree in my backyard but it did not go through the wood, the tree simply burst into flame.

The voice answered in its wisdom. 'This is not merely lightning. This, my boy is holy light. A direct blessing from the Red God. This force will effectively banish a demon back to the hell that they escaped from. This place is now a holy place, watch the light.'

Sure enough, one by one the candles lit up and burned steadily without melting any of the tallow. I looked closer at the candles to somehow try and see how the trick worked. Just as my eye was two inches from the flame an unearthly scream sounded from within the hollow stone. I turned to face a creature that could only be described as an abomination. It looked like something I knew once. It had Filbar Johnston's face.

"My God. What happened to him?" There was a considerable silence as if the creature inside me was pondering the same question; either that or he was simply in shock.

'It is something that has not existed for some time. Their kind was cleansed from the earth during the last wars. If it were to have a name for it's kind then I would call them the Banished. It has been known by other names in other tongues.'

My mind reeled, 'What? Wait a minute. You said other wars, what other…' I did not get to finish that question as the hideous beast charged at me. It looked like Filbar had swallowed a couple of people and was using their parts for extra limbs.

He had acquired four legs; the back two legs were joined by a second torso and a pair of arms that grabbed onto his first stomach. The other body's face protruded through Filbar's belly, it's mouth agape and crying the silent scream of a thousand sufferings. His first arms had now grown bony talons that protruded from his lower arm, making them look like bony clubs from the elbows down.

"God." I ducked and rolled as the beast charged. For some reason this thing wanted me dead.

The voice spoke up again with a sense of urgency in its tone, 'Explanation later. Kill it now. Use the fence.' I nodded and tried luring it over to the candles. It stayed back, screeching sharply with the upper face before sitting down on the grass to await my next move. It was not just some animal that I was dealing with. This was a demon full of dark intelligence and malignance.

'OK what now? I can't stay in this stalemate all night. As you yourself said, I have work to do.'

The voice came back again. 'We both have work to do and no we're not going to stay in a stalemate. When I said use the fence I didn't mean lure the creature to it.'

I was becoming frustrated, 'Well what then?'

The voice replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 'Trust me. Grab the fence with one arm, focus on the creature, then point at it with the other free arm.'

It sounded like lunacy to try to kill an unholy demon by simply pointing at it, but it had been an insane past few weeks so who was I to argue with the voice in my head? I casually went to lean on the fence, trying not to give anything away, as I knew that the thing was smart enough to figure out any trap that I was going to set for it.

The thing spoke up, it's tone a gloating one, "Thinking of running? Have you not yet realised that I could run you down in less than five paces? Or maybe you think that you are safe from me over at that fence. Hah! I would have expected more from one of God's chosen. Protector indeed, hah!" That last sentence sparked some interest with the creature inside me and I suddenly found my powers of speech within its control.

"Nathaniel. It has been a while. No need to ask how you got into God's court with your powers of deception. Still seeking to conclude our business? You should have chosen a better vessel."

The creature scoffed, "You think that I'm here for you? You flatter yourself. No, my work is complete I was just on my way out. As for getting in you forget that it is the court of the God's not just your pathetic spirit."

The creature inside me sounded confused and had a hint of alarm in its voice. "What in God's name have you done?"

Nathaniel laughed and a grotesque smile formed on the face where his belly should have been. "That's something that I shall leave for you two to discover. Now that I think about it I will let you live. Oh by the way you should definitely visit the lake. I hear that it's beautiful this time of year." With that the creature laughed and vanished from sight as if it were nothing more than a mirage.

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More to come soon. I am editing chapter 4 at the moment. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	4. Chapter 4

Just got the new chapter edited. Working quite fast at this. Enjoy.

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The Fallen

Chapter 4: The path to Heaven

I watched in disbelief as the demon known as Nathaniel slowly disappeared from sight. "What the hell? I thought that nothing could get through this ward."

The voice answered calmly, 'Exactly.'

My brain felt like it was doing back flips just to try and comprehend the situation. "What the hell does that mean?"

The voice never lost its cool, 'Just what I said. Nothing did get through. That creature wasn't really here. A small part of its corporeal shell might have been but the summoning spirit was elsewhere. As I said he is deceptive. In effect what you saw was a mere meat puppet. A partially real illusion if you will. You could touch it and it could certainly touch you but you could never destroy it without first destroying the spirit controlling it.'

I could only come up with one reaction, "Huh?"

The voice sighed, 'Never mind. Come on, we still have things to take care of.'

I stepped past the gate and swore that I heard a soft laughter come from nearby the stone. A large shattering of glass was heard from within the stone. The voice became slightly panicked, 'Quickly now, we have less time than I thought. It seems that the other guardians have been disposed of and we might soon be joining them if we don't move now.' I hurried back through the dark forest. This time my emotions connected with fear were replaced with a sense of urgency and a rush of power.

'Stop here. This will do. It is time to block the way to the standing stone lest anyone tries to raise the guardians to serve the darkness. God will deal with them in time. In the future we may even be able to rebuild the shrine but now we need to protect it.'

I looked around the sparse clearing looking for something to cast a spell into but saw nothing, 'What this time?'

The creature was busy looking for something and was using me to see. It answered in a distant tone. 'An infinite loop in time. We will create a place that no one can escape without first using a keystone.'

Still confused I simply gave up trying to understand, "So how do we go about this?"

The creature instructed me to use elements of air, earth and fire for this spell. I used my newfound power to call up the columns as before. The creature took over my body in order to join them in an intricate pattern. Once the columns combined a small crater was formed in the ground. I looked inside the crater and found a small black rock in the form of a dagger. 'Once one of God's chosen picks this up then they have the means to escape this spell. However as it is a time loop the dagger will always return to its resting-place. This is the obsidian dagger.' I held it up to the light of the moon and marvelled at its smooth and dark form. The blade itself sucked in light.

'Let me take control of your body for a while. There's something I need to do.' I allowed the creature to use me and watched from the back of my own head, as the creature drew the symbol of our church in the dirt. It then proceeded to cut my wrist with the blade and bled my arm over the symbol. Strange words spilled from my mouth. "Doolb eht htiw ylno evres. Ecalp siht ot dnuob era uoy doolb htiw. Ekowa uoy doolb htiw. Nrob erew uoy doolb hguorht. Eris." The presence receded to the back of my mind again as I felt the weariness take me as I regained control. It spoke again in the back of my mind, 'Right that's that settled, now for the next spell. I call spirit, earth and air.'

I called the columns for it as the presence felt weaker after the last spell it called. The power was stronger without the creature's help to control it and my arms still wounded but already healing. I was becoming used to it by this time and it felt good so I performed the weaving of the spell under the creature's direction. The three columns converged into a small bubble that floated in mid-air for a second before quickly expanding to form a large area around me…sorry I meant us. The creature took control and chanted a few more words before we started walking again. 'I take it that we are heading to the lake?'

"Yes. I fear that what we will see there will not be to our liking." There was something in the creature's tone that made me think he already knew what we would find.

The guardian juggled the blade from one hand to the other, trying to use up its nervous energy. I looked from the back of my head at my wrist still amazed at how quickly the wounds had healed. 'OK what the hell happened back there and how did it work?'

The voice replied from my lips, it sounded exhausted. "Come see for yourself. I need to rest for a while. I'll explain on the way just keep walking until I say otherwise."

When I regained full control of my senses once again I was disorientated by what I saw. It seemed that I could move in the same way that I always had but the world around me had changed. The mist that covered the area moved painfully slowly and felt a lot thicker. I almost felt that I had to wade to make any decent progress. Yet when I saw the breeze moving through the trees the branches moved unnaturally fast. Eventually I came to one of the torches that lit a path through the forest. We had finally reached the main road. 'Wait Valtiel, not so fast.' The warning came too late as I hurried towards the road, I stepped through the bubble.

Within the flicker of an eye I found myself back near the fence of the calling stone. 'What the?...'

The voice spoke up, 'I warned you. You are now in a time loop. Every time that you pass the threshold you will be transported back to the point where you would have entered. Only the blade's power can allow you to escape. We have to go and get it again. The principle of time is that we are celestial beings moving through the universe. The earth only happens to be moving at nearly exactly the same speed and in the same area. So all I did was to alter the speeds of earth and air in that small space so that whoever passed the spell without the dagger would be held by air while the earth transported them back to another part of the bubble's wall.'

The power amazed me and I was in awe of the creature's knowledge. Eventually I reached the bubble's wall, this time armed with the knowledge that I had to cut the damn thing first. 'Now cut through and leave the dagger here. It will return to its resting place in time and space.' I did so and made my way onto the main road. The creature whispered which I thought a bit odd, as I was the only one that could hear it. 'Stay on your guard young one. I have a bad feeling about the path ahead. Try to stay in the shadows as much as you can. The demons that took your town are drawn to light and sound.' I nodded and stalked as quietly as I could manage into the forest that led to the golden shores of LakeToluca.

My new gift of sight in the darkness became an essential thing to have as it saved my life more than once in that forest. It seemed the flying creatures had taken to nesting in the bigger trees. It was hard to stifle a gasp of shock when I came upon one such nest. Grotesque spread out faces grinned at me. There were no bones on this bloody visage, nothing but an eyeless and toothless joker. The joke was lost on me. The ground was sticky, as the blood had matted with the leaves. The air was filled with the stench of decay, as the nest of skin and flesh rocked gently in the breeze. My need to get to the lake suddenly became much more urgent.

I tried to stay as far away from the town as I could and yet I could still hear screaming. 'I think it's best that I take control now.' I agreed with the creature as I was not sure that my stomach could take much more of this. As we approached the lakeside the screaming grew louder. Within a matter of minutes we came upon the source of the noise. 'Oh my God!' I exclaimed in horror.

What faced us now, just paces away from the now blood red shores of TolucaLake, was a perimeter of screaming lipless corpses. Their heads and legs were nailed to the trees nearest to the shore. Most of the skin had either fallen off or had been torn off the faces. Stains of puss and dead blood streaked down the cadavers to touch the soil. The nail wounds had been infected. Tattered rags barely covered their scared and torn torsos. The bodies seemed a bit small as they tried desperately to grab my body. Their cries were not of terror but hunger. They reached out to rip and tear my flesh.

It was just as well that I was not in control of my own body, as I would probably have collapsed under the strain of the realisation. 'Th…the children.'

The creature sighed, "I was hoping that you would not have realised. Do not forget that this is a demon's paradise and that the things you see here were not meant for mortals eyes." The creature dared go no farther whenever he saw the lake and what was on it.

There, in the middle of the lake, was an open gate of blood, bone and fire. Demons walked out of the gate in a single line, however the line seemed endless. Beyond the gate out in the lake was a throne of bone and living flesh. There seated on the throne was the personification of evil itself. Its black horns spiralled into the sky and had an infants skull impaled on each horn. It smiled with glee at the destruction that surrounded it.

The top half of its face was hidden by a half skull that seemed to be from a big dog. It wore a suit made from living sacrifices. A living, breathing, screaming mass of people and animals sown together with the purples and reds that could only have been from intestines and blood vessels. The pain brought it pleasure. The back of its chair twitched. It was then I realised that it was not the back of his chair at all but rather the creature's large wings of skin and bone.

'Samael I take it?'

The creature nodded. "He must be stopped. The gates must be broken. They were originally intended to only open one way. We cannot fix this without the guardians and thanks to Nathaniel that will no longer be possible. This has to be contained. Samael seems confined to his throne for now, but if those demons kill enough people he will become strong enough to enter your world and I think you already know what will happen then."

I was resolved that this would not be the case, 'Tell me what I must do.'

The creature smiled with my lips, "That's the spirit. I will have to arrange an emergency council with Xuchilbara but first we need a way to get there. I will tell you more when it is safe."

The creature ran through the forest until it reached another clearing. When it was happy that the place was secure it began talking to me. "Right this requires a great amount of effort and pain. I need you to bear it as I will need my energy in order to complete this journey." I remained determined to stop Samael and took control once more. Once the creature was back in my head it spoke, 'Now for the big one. Ready yourself this will be a bit painful.'

I tensed my body thinking that it was the power that was going to hurt me. I was wrong. When it hit me the pain forced me to my knees. Brow covered in sweat and teeth clenched until I thought they were going to shatter. The pain continued but became more focused, especially around the shoulder blades. Something sharp stabbed at the skin from the inside. I heard a couple of cracks and felt small flaps of skin open up to reveal two protruding bones with large muscles wrapped around them. They were not completely out and I soon found out why.

More sickeningly wet, fleshy noises were heard before two small red lines began to form on my back, running from my shoulders to my calves. At this stage I was now flat on the wet grass of the clearing, the dew on my face keeping me awake, else I would have passed out with the pain. With a loud 'schlock,' a pair of bloodied, golden wings spread themselves out from either side of my body. The voice spoke to me as I lay there, face down, catching my breath.

'Stay still. You need to let them dry. You also need to rest so that those wounds can heal. I intend to gain an audience with my lady in order to give your plan her blessing so to speak. The amount of power it will take to change Lakeside will be only such a feat that God can perform. We need to cut Samael off from the world but also keep him so occupied that he doesn't notice. It will require sacrifice but I think it will be something God will be prepared to do in order to buy some time until She can think of something a little more permanent to deal with him. Are you healed yet?'

I expected to say no, but it was nothing short of a miracle that I found that I was able to stand up completely revived. I admired the wings as I spread them out. They were covered in golden fur, just as the ones I had seen in the mirror. The voice interrupted the moment. 'I will control you for another short time as I am the more experienced flier here. You just sit back and rest a while.' I obeyed and once again sat back to see what the creature would do this time.

I felt a strange sensation as the creature spread the golden wings. The newly formed appendages pulled on the skin near my shoulder blades. I expected him to make us run before taking off but he simply angled the wings down and with one mighty flap we were up in the air. We soared over the forest, the burning town, the lake and its armies however I did not see the leader of these demons. "Samael is still confined to the spirit world for now, you will only be able to see him if you look through the gates of hell." The creature calmly informed me. We sped over the mountaintops; my face was tight from the speeds that we were travelling.

Suddenly we veered sharply upwards into a large cloud formation that looked like a large door. In a split second the scenery changed from mountains, lakes and forests to the large courtyard of a golden palace.

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Guess where Valtiel is headed next? Haha. Next chapter is a bit steamy. You have been warned. Hope you liked it. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	5. Chapter 5

Here's the next one. This is has a steamy scene. You have been warned. I decided to explore a bit of the realm that would oppose the forces at work in Silent Hill. Hope you enjoy.

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The Fallen

Chapter 5: Heaven's council

The exilheration of flight ended all too soon as I gently landed on the smooth white cobbles. It was then I realised that the gleaming white stones were actually giant flattened pearls.

The creature sighed and smiled, "Ahh home. Look here's something I have to show you. The seven towers of Dumahllen." He let me take control again so that I could look around and marvel at the structural beauty of the palace. I was astounded at the sheer magnificence of the craftsmanship that surrounded me, built by this ancient and winged race that surely must be angels.

'Not quite,' the voice chimed in, 'but close. We are the guardians of heaven known as the Dumahll. The angels are the last lines of defence and can usually be found in the great halls of praise located in the massive inner sanctum.'

A thought occurred to me "Is Xuchilbara really God or is she something different as well?"

The creature answered, disbelieving that I had actually asked the question, 'Xuchilbara is God. She is a spirit of God, one of the daughters of God and therefore the same as God just as your hands are the same as you. If they were cut off they would still be you.' I was happy with the answer and sensed that the creature was content that my faith had not suffered. I continued to look around.

Each of the massive towers was made of two separate buildings that intertwined. Two narrow structures that seemed to go on forever. They were decorated with golden and silver statuettes and huge carved murals depicting different historical events. Great victories and tragic defeats were included side by side. It is often said that history is written by the victorious insinuating that the stories are suited to make the victors look good. The Dumahll did not need to make themselves look good and so did not leave anything out. I looked around more trying to take everything in at once. I now noticed that the towers were not just coloured but were in fact made out of precious jewels; emerald, ruby, amber, sapphire, obsidian, diamond and amethyst.

Fountains were scattered around the courtyard. Some flowed with sweet milk, some were completely covered with a continual layer of honey. There was no pain, no fear and no imperfection. I thought that the sun's light on the gleaming white cobbles would surely blind me but to my disbelief I was actually in a state of complete bliss. 'Impressive isn't it?' The voice said proudly. My reply was nearly unintelligible as I was still struck by the beauty of the place. The voice chuckled 'Yeah I know…I know.' I forced myself to walk to the palace gates.

The palace itself was a gleaming white building, of which some parts seemed to be made of cloud. The rest was made of some material that gave off its own radiance. Again there were great winged statues adorning the tops of the palace. It had a dome like roof with seven spires adorning it. Each made with the same materials as the towers of Dumahllen. There were large circular holes in the roof. Each was outlined with gold and silver rings, inside each were seven runes, again with the colours of the towers. They glowed brightly whenever someone emerged from it. It was a large eyrie. I couldn't make out what the murals on the building depicted, as the tower was so bright that there were no shadows to distinguish the shapes.

The creature decided to take over again. "We are not here to take in the sights, beautiful as they are; we are here to sort out our current problem. In time you can come back and stay." There were two guards keeping vigil on top of the golden, bejewelled gates. Their wings were white with a diagonal black stripe running across them. The Dumahll were garbed in chain mail and leather with red and blue sashes running over the chain mail diagonally. Their helmets were in the shape of a lion and an eagle with their mouths open so that the guard's faces could be seen.

They were armoured to the teeth. Their weapons looked like they could cut through stone without even denting or blunting the blades. Large curved blades on the end of silver poles clanked against the guard's rune covered gauntlets. As the creature ran his gaze along the wall of the gate I saw that there were differently coloured guards. I concluded that there must have been some sort of caste system. If this was the case then it left me with another puzzle, 'I thought everyone was treated equally in heaven. What is the situation here?'

The creature answered "You are correct to surmise that the guards are of different castes however the castes represent nothing more than what each guard's personality is like. For example the guards of the red Dumahllic are a stronger, more aggressive guard in battle. The guards are all treated equally but they are chosen to live in a certain Dumahllic according to their behaviour, in order to make them more effective in their duty. They are the peoples of the Dumahllen and the front line in heavens defence against any demonic onslaught."

I began to understand, 'Ah I see. Well whatever they are it seems that heaven is preparing for war. News spreads quickly in these parts.'

The creature's voice held a note of sorrow and regret, "It is preparing for battle. I fear that these may be the last days for many of the Dumahll after witnessing the scene at Toluca Lake. Come, let us enter." He called up to the nearest guard, "Klintoch my friend. How fare you?"

The guard looked down and focused his gaze on me. "Sunak? It has been a while. Fate finally found you then. I heard that you were approaching and made sure that I had this shift so that I could see for myself. I never thought that this day would actually come. Come in. Come in she is waiting. You are slightly late."

The creature now known to me as Sunak replied, "We were a little waylaid. Our enemy is more powerful than I expected. We crossed paths with Nathaniel."

Klintoch's face paled, "Nathaniel is free again? The dark one has indeed gained power. How did this happen?"

Sunak sighed, "He claimed an entire town."

The guard rushed to the stairwell and a clinking noise was soon heard. The decorative portcullis was quickly raised and Klintoch's voice drifted out into the courtyard. "Come in quickly. I doubt the lady Xuchilbara would have surmised the problem to be this bad by the time of your arrival. I will gather the entire Dumahllen and triple the guard."

Sunak made my face look grim, "I think that would be a wise idea."

We walked through the archway and into…darkness. 'Sunak, I have two things to ask of you. One; why am I only finding out your name now?'

Sunak smiled, "It would have been dangerous to mention it where we just came from. Samael wants me disposed of just as much as my lady. Had I spoken my name in those woods a hundred demons would have shredded our flesh to ribbons before either of us would have known what hit us. What was the second thing?"

I wondered for a bit as I had lost my train of thought. I looked at the darkness around me for a while searching to recall the second question. Then it hit me, 'Yes. What is this place? I don't understand. I thought this was supposed to be golden, perfect, a paradise like an oasis in the bleakness of reality.'

I blinked and had to look again as suddenly I was standing in a huge forest of palm trees, orchids, blue spruce and weeping willows. They all grew out of golden sands like those on the shores of Toluca Lake. Dotted about the forest were crystal clear fountains flowing from nowhere into beautiful blue pools that never changed in volume. The only things that I did not imagine were various doorways in trees, much like those in the eyries. There was also a long set of steps that led to the top of a snow capped mountain that was beautifully set off by a burning orange and crimson sunset. A golden glow shone from a small building at the top of the mountain.

'Guess we head over there then.' I said nearly giving up on understanding any explanation. Sunak smiled, sensing the emotion, "Yes. As for the sudden appearance of everything I will explain so that you can understand. Heaven is paradise. Paradise is whatever you imagine it to be. You are in an empty space in the universe where you can dream anything you want into existence. As for the doors they are for the parts of heaven such as the halls of praise and various other places within the inner sanctum."

Suddenly a creature stepped out of a gateway in the hollow of a weeping willow. It was a black panther with golden wings and a blue stripe running horizontally across its wingspan. Sunak smiled, "Sarina."

I was confused, 'Who?' The creature known as Sarina balanced on its back legs with its wings spread. The blue stripe spread across the fur to form loose clothing that covered the body except for the wings and arms. I watched in amazement as the body changed shape and the black fur massed at the back of the creature's head to form long black hair. The arms were now white and gave off a faint golden glow now that the fur was gone. The face reshaped to resemble that of a human's, as did the body to finally form one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. She had sleek black hair that flowed freely down to her lower back and the most beautiful captivating green eyes.

Sunak finally spoke again, "It is good to see you again Sarina my beloved."

Sarina smiled as she came up to me and held me gently in her arms. We looked into each other's eyes. "I have missed you husband. This fate of yours is a frustrating thing." Her lips were so close to mine that I could feel her breath on my lips.

Sunak smiled as if all the problems in the world had disappeared. "It has been too long my love. I have missed the warmth of your touch. I had almost forgotten how much your loving embrace could stir my feelings."

She gently kissed me on the lips, as we broke away I could feel her lips calling to me, stirring up strong passions inside me that I had never felt before.

She whispered so low that if we were surrounded I would be the only one able to hear her. "Let me remind you then." Her taste still lingered on my lips and I truly knew what it was to yearn deeply for a woman. Sunak was now in complete control and took Sarina in a passionate embrace. I felt the love between them, the sweet passion that had burned between them for centuries. They explored each other as if they were finding themselves for the first time alone and free to act as they pleased without consequence. Time stopped: literally. I saw Sarina weave a bubble similar to the time loop I had seen earlier yet hers was infinitely more delicate and complex.

Sunak started kissing Sarina's neck, drawing small amounts of blood near to the skin, making it a little pinker than before. He started to make deep purrs against her neck, the vibrations of which produced the desired effect as Sarina pulled him to the ground and tore his shirt off exposing his body. Well it was my body but she wasn't looking at me it was only him that she saw. Sunak resumed kissing her neck and started moving slowly down. He took the sash covering her upper body in his teeth and tugged it down exposing her perfect breasts. He looked at Sarina for a moment before placing his hands on her shoulders and kissing his way from the neck down.

She took one of his hands and playfully began sucking on his finger. She took his finger out of her mouth and bit on her lower lip as he moved further down. After a while he came back up to kiss her on the lips. This time the kiss was much more passionate as they were becoming more aroused. Sunak moved his hand down to her lower sash to remove it. There was no gentle tugging this time; he simply ripped the clothing from her body in a quick, controlled movement. They looked at each other for a while. Not a word passing between them. Lust now controlled them as they passionately made love on the desert sands.

Some time had passed before they had finished. The two lay on the ground propped up on one elbow, looking at each other in the light of the sunset. Sarina spoke in seductive tones, "You don't have to go you know. I can keep this spell up as long as I want. Heaven isn't all its meant to be when you're lonely."

Sunak sighed, "You know what I want." Sarina smiled but Sunak spoke up, "You also know why I can't have it yet. If Samael got in we could never see each other again. I have to make sure that doesn't happen."

Sarina looked unhappy but resigned to accepting what fate had thrown down. "Fine. Go then but be safe my love and take this with you." She gave me another kiss before snapping her fingers. Suddenly we were both fully clothed.

We eventually said our goodbyes and made our way to the mountain steps. "Goodbye my love. Until next time." Sunak kissed Sarina softly once more; a tingle left on both their lips. "I shall always burn for you. I will come for you when this is all over. Know that I love you and am searching for a way to bring us together forever. Soon I will have a way to stop Samael and his minions permanently and then I can once again walk with you in a heaven that pales compared to your beauty. Until then my love. Farewell."

Sarina became a panther once more and ran off into the forests and the meadows. Sunak shed a tear and I realised something tragic. 'You're not sure if you are ever going to see her again.'

Sunak sounded sorrowful, "It is probably the last time we will ever be together for a very long time. I can feel it in my bones, Sarina knows it as well."

I pondered at Sunak's predicament, 'Then why do you stand here?'

Sunak replied, "Fate is a great burden and a cruel mistress. I am playing out the part that I was created for but there is always hope and that is what Sarina and I each carry in our hearts. Hope and faithful love. It is what has kept our love alive over these years. Come now, I shall speak of this no further. We must see the Red God if there is still even a chance of stopping Samael." With that we began the slow ascent up the steep staircase.

Finally reaching the top, my feet crunched in the snow yet I did not feel cold. I was now dressed in Sunak's normal attire, consisting of a black and white sash over leather armour with the symbol of God on a patch placed on the right shoulder. I looked closely at the small structure that lay before me. 'Surely God is not in here?' Sunak gave a little sigh before muttering something about mortals. He went on up to the entrance of the glorified shed… for that is what it was.

Sunak let me have another look around. This small outpost was seemingly shaped from wood, yet when I touched it the material felt as smooth and as hard as stone. I knocked the door and entered. I found myself in a massive throne room.

Marble pillars lined the path to the large throne. A snake coiled around each one. Each snake was different in some way. The smooth marble floor had ember runes poured into it. They were the same as the ones I had seen etched around the eyrie's exits. I walked cautiously towards the throne. 'Let me handle this now. We are going before a God, not some animal in a cage to be gawped at by the ignorant.' It was Sunak again. I was going to argue but in the end I knew that he was right, as I had never met a God before. I felt myself sinking back into the subconscious again.

My body took on a much more confident stride. I saw glimpses of someone in my head. It seemed that Sunak and Xuchilbara were close friends. Though the picture I saw in my mind was far from the vision seated on the throne before me.

She wore a large, decorative crown of silver with oval sapphires that looked like drops of water from the deepest and most mysterious parts of the ocean. Seven small towers rose out of the silver band to form a bejewelled sunrise. They were each of a different colour, obviously representing her rule over the Dumahllen. A white mask hid the upper half of her face. It was possible to see eyeholes but not the eyes that lay behind them. She wore a silver dress that covered her up to her neck and yet it still revealed enough for men to want and worship her. The dress shimmered like a beautiful lake on a hot summer's day.

It was then that I realised that the dress itself was moving to make her more appealing. Sunak spoke in his thoughts, 'It is an interesting device and was used with devastating effect by the high seductress Kitali.'

There was obviously a story behind the comment, 'What happened to her?'

Sunak replied with a grin, 'She used it on one of the guards that Xuchilbara was more fond of.'

'Oh,' I said understanding everything without having to be told.'

We finally arrived at the great white throne and bowed before the great woman; her raven black hair spilling over her shoulders. The chair itself was a marvel. It was made out of a single layer of large white feathers. The back of it looked like a mighty wave crashing against a cliff face. She looked down at me and smiled. "Rise dear friend. This is no time for formalities. Come hither and take my hand."

I made sure that Sunak had full control, as I knew that I was way out of my depth here. Sunak rose and kissed her hand. "My friend, it is good to see you again. I trust you knew that I was coming."

She smiled with ruby red lips. "Of course. Did you enjoy the test I prepared for you."

Sunak smiled, "You were always one to mix duty with pleasure. Yes I always enjoy Sarina's company no matter how brief it is."

Xuchilbara daintily and regally walked down the steps to her throne. "Walk with me." We obeyed. Xuchilbara sounded curious, "Why did you not stay with your wife? You had the chance. She did not lie about her offer. Well…it was really my offer. Why did you not take it?"

Sunak looked straight at Xuchilbara, "In truth I would have loved to stay with her but the burden of my duty lies too heavy on my heart for me to be content. Once I am free of it I should like to spend the rest of eternity with her. For now I have to take care of this business before it destroys everything I have ever known and loved."

The Red God nodded "I was right to choose you as my steward. I know what is to come and I must tell you now that you are to rule over my kingdom for some time. During that time the servant you occupy now will be the agent of my revival. The one thing he must do is obtain and protect the seal of Metatron until the time comes when my body returns to paradise to join forces with my sister. I need Valtiel to hide the seal until the order is again restored. They will guard it until the ascent of the Holy Mother is performed.

To perform the spell that you need to put your plan into effect I will need to descend into the place of the silenced spirits in my corporeal form. Once there I will set out my mark in blood at seven locations in the area. This being done, the spell will be completed and the place will become a prison for that abomination.

I need you and a representative from each of the Dumahllen to protect me and then one by one guard each symbol until the ritual is completed. Once this is done it is up to Valtiel to disguise himself as one of them, perform the gathering and get the seal to the order so they can perform the ascension. Are you sure he is worthy of the task? There is a lot riding on his shoulders. You must be sure of him."

I was afraid, to say the least, but Sunak's answer reassured me. "I have never been surer of a servant in my life. He found me in the first try. He is noble, sure, a little slow but eager to serve and protect you."

Xuchilbara had a serious look on her face, "That is high praise indeed from your lips."

Sunak looked at the marble floor, "It is well deserved praise. He was attacked by Nathaniel after using the power for the first time and survived with hardly a scratch on him."

Xuchilbara looked thoughtful, "Impressive. Although it is a little worrying to hear that Nathaniel is free once again. No doubt he will already be at Samael's right hand, reporting news of your freedom. Meet me in the courtyard with your best men. The board is set, let us begin this game."

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Next chapter will be up soon. Please R&R  
Cheers  
Wolf


	6. Chapter 6

Nearly at the end now. It has been fun getting this going again. Hope you have enjoyed reading this far.

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The Fallen

Chapter 6: Blood on Silent Streets

We waited in the courtyard with the seven chosen guardians of the Dumahllen. All were in full battle regalia suited to their chosen weapons. For example Teklan was of the green Dumahllic and was a specialist in the use of the throwing star so he wore many green sashes, each with a multitude of stars. His rune-covered gauntlet was able to call the stars back to him. The others carried as many of their specialist weapons as they could. I myself had a pair of gauntlets and a large helmet in the shape of a mountain lion's head with the jaws open.

A multitude of Dragon horns sounded, 'Trophies from past battles,' Sunak explained. The golden gates lifted and Xuchilbara walked into the courtyard in all her majesty. Her appearance had changed yet again. She had white hair that shone and flowed around and past her shoulders. Her red eyes were now visible and glowed with a fierce intensity. I understood why she had worn the mask. She did not want to make me uneasy. The Red God was ready for war.

She wore a shimmering red robe. It moved much like the silver garment. The high collar made her hair fall over her shoulders like a waterfall. The hair stopped at her waist to almost hide two curved daggers that almost looked like sickles. With bejewelled golden hilts and white silver blades they looked both beautiful and deadly, much like their owner. We spread our wings and took off beginning the descent to the place I had once known as Lakeside.

We landed outside the old Johnston farm and cautiously approached the town. A thick fog surrounded the area. I noticed a flicker of dim light coming from the Johnston's cattle shed. Sunak conveyed his thoughts 'Do not draw attention to it young one. We do not want them to be seen. They are the last survivors of this town and will go on to be a most valuable resource in this war, for it is they who will become the next Order. You will see them later on.

Convince them that you are on the Dark Lord's side and give them the seal. They will protect it and when they use it they will unwittingly unleash their doom and also the saviour of the corrupted land. Whenever they do use it a creature will be born. It will be corrupt whenever it enters this place. Make sure that you use Xuchilbara's blood to purify it or else it will remain a demon of incredible power. If this happens then at least Samael will think he has the upper hand as he festers in his prison.'

I was a little confused, 'What's going to happen to Xuchilbara? What do you know?'

Sunak sighed, 'I know that the prophecies must first come through a circle of corruption until they finally come true and the second coming is upon us.'

'Judgement day?' I finally understood.

'Yes,' Sunak said with a tired voice. 'Just witness the events, do not let your faith waver and stay sharp. Things will become clearer later.'

We reached the small school. It was named after the place that we had left burning to cinders before moving to Lakeside. I looked at the now faded sign of Midwich School and inwardly shook my head. I had hoped to someday bring my own children here to learn the beauty of the world; a world that is so fragile that it could be overthrown by dark forces or destroyed in the blink of an eye and hence must be protected fiercely.

We stepped into the playground with disgust on our faces. There was a larger fire here but it was not made for keeping people warm. I could feel bile rising to the back of my throat as I beheld the impaled body of Elsa Oleson, the school mistress, dead and roasting like a pig on a spit. Children's jawless, decapitated heads fuelled the fire. The fire did not seem to decompose the heads in any way; if anything I would say that the massacre was fresh.

"I will start here." Xuchilbara announced, "Make sure that I am not disturbed or the ritual will be corrupted." We spread out, checking the shadows of the schoolyard for any spies of Samael. I was concentrating my search on the roof after the last massacre of Lakeside. Once we had made sure that everything was relatively safe we all turned to watch Xuchilbara.

She cut her wrists with the daggers and then pointed them towards the ground so that the blood flowing from her wrists trickled down to the tips of the blades. The precious red drops started coming faster until a consistent trickle flowed. The Red God started drawing her symbol in the ground with her blood. I knew it well. The snake trapped between two places by a large circle inside a pyramid that was then encircled with arcane runes.

A growling was heard from inside the school and a cloud of darkness started to spread from the front doors. Suddenly a large, grey reptilian shape burst through the doors. 'The Dragon! Quickly protect the Goddess. Divert it for now and I will help you defeat it. I will need my energy for later.' I took control again but this time I felt stronger instead of weaker it seemed that little break in heaven did me the world of good.

I quickly looked around for a weapon. My eyes fell upon an old steel hoop with a stick lying nearby. 'Bastard probably devoured the child that owned this.' I grabbed the hoop and snuck close to the beast. It sniffed the air in search of prey. 'It must be nearly blind. Use that to your advantage.'

Focused on the other warriors of the Dumahllen, the beast did not notice me fly directly above it. I swooped down and slipped the small metal ring over the jaws of the great beast. I landed close to it, well within its vision and started to jab at its soulless black eyes with the stick.

Not surprisingly the Dragon changed course fairly quickly. It stumbled awkwardly but still surprisingly quickly for its size. I brought the thing crashing into the adjoining yard. There was a straining squeal of metal, as the small ring was ripped apart by the beast. Its jaws now freed the Dragon lunged at me with renewed vigour. The chosen of the Dumahllen were torn between watching Xuchilbara, the rest of the grounds in case of any surprises and my battle with the Dragon.

Xuchilbara finished and called over to me, "I am leaving now. You and Duraal make sure that the marking is not disturbed until the sun breaks through the clouds. That will be the signal that I have finished the ritual."

I dodged another attack and shouted "OK," as the beast locked its jaws around the corner of a house crushing it to smithereens and making the house list at an awkward angle. 'Ok Sunak. How do I stop this thing?' I jumped onto the roof of the house to avoid getting swiped by the beast's tail.

Sunak's reply came after a worrying delay, 'We don't. Not entirely. It is not our place to do so. We shall merely put it into a state of slumber. The Dragon slayer has not yet been born.'

I sighed 'I should have figured on a cryptic answer from you. Ok then how do we do that because I'm not sure that this twig is really going to do the trick, now is it?'

Silence.

'Aww no. You can't be serious.'

Sunak cut in quickly, 'In a way yes. Do you know how to fire an arrow?'

'Yes. Chief Black Bear taught everyone how to shoot an arrow in case the town came under attack again and we ran out of bullets. Or had to hunt in the wild for food.' I started to see fire, earth, air, water and spirit being woven into a simple pattern.

'Hold out your stick.' I watched in amazement as the stick divided and changed to form a bow and arrow. The arrow had runes on the tip.

'A simple sleeping spell to make the creature dormant until the Dragon slayer arrives.'

I rolled my eyes, 'Great' I said sarcastically.

The beast meanwhile had been munching steadily on the side of the house in an effort to make me slide into its waiting jaws. Its plan was working but unbeknownst to the Dragon it was doing exactly what I wanted it to do. I now beheld its ugly form in all its hideous glory. It was as long as a house and as wide as a coach and horses. Its skin was a mottled grey with soulless black eyes resting on either side of its flat head. Its jaws opened vertically and could have easily swallowed as much as horse whole. Unfortunately it was not trying to devour a horse at this point in time but me instead.

Out of nowhere the dark cloud that had burst out of the school with the Dragon earlier now swarmed over me, blocking my vision. I tried desperately to fly away but my wings were paralysed. I clawed my way up the roof of the still sinking house, shredding my fingers on the splinters of the roof. I could smell the lingering stench of decayed flesh on the creature's breath. I slid slowly down into the jaws of impending doom. 'Not dying like this.' I panicked as I kicked at the jaws that snapped at my feet. 'Any suggestions or magic spells to get us out of this one Mr know it all?'

A worrying silence ensued before the dread word was uttered, 'Pray?'

For some reason my left hand still grasped the bow and arrow. My legs were now partially inside the beast's jaws, propping them open. Suddenly a beam of blinding sunlight burst through the clouds and dispelled the darkness with a loud screeching. I felt the beast's grip loosen and wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation.

I quickly planted both of my feet the roof and back flipped out of the Dragon's jaws and onto its smooth and flat back. The creature roared and started bucking like a wild horse and thrashing its long tail sending Duraal flying. 'Good. Serves him right for not helping.' I quickly jumped off the Dragon's back and rolled under a small bush, just avoiding getting shredded to pieces under the beast's claws. I ran back to another yard, took aim and waited for the beast to come crashing through the white picket fence.

It did not disappoint and soon small white splinters were sticking out of Mrs Oleson's flowerbed. The Dragon charged at me with its jaws agape. The world slowed down for a moment as I loosed the arrow into the very maw of the beast. Its jaws closed with a loud groan just a hairs breadth from my face. I could still hear the Dragon's shallow breathing as I gave out a sigh of relief. After a while I was sure that there was something wrong with my hearing as the sounds of battle continued to sound in my ear. I followed the sounds of fighting and saw why Duraal couldn't have helped me earlier.

He was fending off a number of small, headless cadavers wielding daggers. 'Oh my God. He must have gotten the rest of the children.' It was a gruesome realisation that the once beloved children of Lakeside had either been nailed to trees or had become unholy terrors. Nothing it seemed was sacred to Samael; even the defiled corpses of children could be used as conscripts in his unholy army.

I saw Duraal's axes flying in a whirlwind of blue and silver as he fought to stay alive. I started to make my way towards him when a voice that sent shivers down my spine spoke.

"Stop and turn around Sunak."

Sunak took control of me and turned around. There in the middle of the road stood the deformed body of Filbar now controlled by the demon Nathaniel. He also wore armour but his was more suited to a warhorse. All except for the helmet, which was of a black snakes head, the fangs forming bars that protected his face. In a blur of motion I found a sword and shield in my hands, both were as white as lightning. Nathaniel automatically went into a defensive position.

"Easy fool. I come with tidings of your mistress. If you don't believe me here's proof" The abomination held out a small round disc with Xuchilbara's symbol on it.

Sunak smiled "We have won then," he muttered.

Nathaniel laughed darkly, "Was it such a great victory for you to lose your queen white knight? Let me tell of how it came to pass." The beast held a sick pride in his voice when he told his tale. "I was the first to notice that something was going on when I saw you out of your prison so I went to report to my lord. Not only was he pleased at my release but he had also anticipated that your lady was up to something. When I returned to my master I did not return to a few loyal beings but to a massive army ready and willing to do his bidding. My lord needs souls to power the travelling devices and who better to use than those of the once loyal followers of your order.

Anyway we heard reports of an envoy in the town so my lord sent his own. By the time I reached your lady there was only one guard left and against a legion of my lord's followers they did not stand a chance. The weakling you sent from the red tower did not deserve the colour. Klintoch was his name I believe." Nathaniel smiled cruelly when he saw Sunak's grip tighten on his weapon. "He fell in the first wave and died screaming like a child as the flesh was ripped from his living body." Nathaniel brought a red broadsword into view and waved it in front of me.

"As for your lady we brought her straight to my lord Samael. Where he held a very public execution in which she begged for mercy before getting hacked into twelve pieces by the rusty dull blade of the punisher's knife. The punishment took quite some time and the screams…ahh the screams were exquisite. Her sorrow tasted like a rare and fine wine. Her remains were scattered across my lord's dominion. I found this coin left on her body. Here…" He flicked it over towards my waiting palm. I caught it deftly with a snarl. Nathaniel smirked, "Keep it. It will serve well as a reminder to show what happens when someone crosses my lord."

Suddenly a loud "Thuchink" was heard and I saw Nathaniel's eyes bulge in their sockets. I looked behind him to see a large blue axe rise and fall again, this time with a more meaty sound to the blow.

It was Duraal, "Bastard killed Klintoch." Sunak still in control took his sword, quickly lopped off Filbar's head and stabbed the other head through the mouth to split the body from crotch to gizzard. The remains fell to the ground like a meaty sack and quickly slithered away into the school.

"Let's go after him," Duraal encouraged.

Sunak nodded in agreement, "Yes surely but first release me from this shell."

I was quite offended at being referred to as a shell but I held my tongue. "Of course," Duraal replied. The two warriors wove a complex spell of the five elements. I saw a body materialise out of nowhere. It was that of a warrior in white clothing and the same armour as I wore now. White light poured from my body and I watched awestruck. And then he was there, the noble being that had inhabited me.

Sunak spoke, "This is the last time that I shall speak to you for a long time little one. You know what to do now, the rest is up to you, do not fail us."

I was earnest in my reply, "I promise that I will bring her back."

He smiled, "I believe that you will. Relax now little one and let the darkness take you." I obeyed and as I fell to the dirt road I saw an army of demons heading my way. Darkness.

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Last chapter to follow. Please R&R  
Cheers  
Wolf


	7. Chapter 7

Last one. Look out for Gods and Monsters III : Shepherd's Warning. Coming soon. Enjoy

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The Fallen

Chapter 7: A Harsh Landing

The next thing I saw was what undoubtedly had to be the face of Samael. His wicked features grinning wildly as his lips were missing and his black horns spiralled an arms length into the air. Again he wore the skull mask but his eyes. Oh dear God his eyes. They were pure black where the whites should have been. His irises were bright yellow and bright pools of flames replaced his pupils. His skin was black and grey with bright blue veins. His voice was a combination of thunder and an icy whisper all at once. I thought my head was going to split when he first spoke to me.

"Well, well little one. Finally awake then." A strange demon with a red pyramid helmet was also present and armed with a stake.

"I mean you no harm," I quickly said in the vain hope that an ally would be treated with respect.

Samael laughed maliciously, "That's good to know. Unfortunately however I mean you plenty of harm." With that he nodded his head and the other demon drove his stake into my leg.

I screamed in agony, "I must say I am impressed that you have lived this long not only that but you managed to be instrumental in delivering my enemies into their doom by my hands. That is why I am not going to turn you into one of the many mindless saps around here. Ha ha no I have something special in mind for you. You will suffer a more deliciously painful fate. You will be made to do my bidding against your own will and you will be fully conscious at the time. I have already taken the town and remade it. I want you to bring more souls to this place. I will have my realm lie dormant while you do this.

I'm going to need a lot more souls if I am to ever get out of this town. Oh don't be shocked. You have missed a lot and I have learned much while you have been asleep. As for your hopes of resurrecting Xuchilbara, the Red God whatever name you know her by, forget it. I know about the Order and it pleases me that they serve me. You may think I am acting according to a prophecy spewed out by your precious Red God but I can assure you what I want I get by my own free will and not some trick of fate. Once I escape this place I will storm heaven and destroy this worthless land. As for Xuchilbara I have plans for her remains and it suits me best that she remains deceased for now. The people here have not seen her yet. I will give them a taste of what a powerful God really looks like. I will show them the might and dread that comes from a real Red God." He gave a dark and ominous chuckle, and then looked over to the demon again.

"Don't keep the poor creature waiting now; after all he has a lot of work ahead of him." The stake came down again, this time hitting a nerve and giving me a permanent twitch. "You will meet with the town scribe over many years and influence him to attract people here as a tourist town. You will find that people will see you, as they want to see you now. This will come in handy for the years ahead. Now go."

A red haze consumed my vision and I awoke on the golden shores of Toluca Lake. I limped into the town and since that day I have been here, preparing the town for each new harvest. I often wonder what would have happened if things went differently and who says things still can't change. Until then all I can do is pray. I also know that this story will not serve as a warning but will merely end up as a 'quaint piece of folklore' that will add to the mystery that attracts so many to the town. In closing I hope I have laid a few demons to rest. If you are reading this as one of the many trapped souls in this place, do not give up hope.

Yours in hope and unwavering faith.

Valtiel.

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That's it. Hope you liked the story. Please R&R. There are more stories in the series to come. If you want let me know your thoughts on it so far. Thanks for reading.  
Cheers  
Wolf


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